Are you looking to hire or promote a production manager or production supervisor soon? Maybe you’re a bit nervous about making a wrong hire as your last person didn’t work out?
What is important is to focus on the key traits that will make the person excel in the role, rather than looking just at performance or tenure.
1. They have a great mentoring and coaching ability
This would be one of the most important traits. Sadly, a lot of people are promoted or hired because they have superior knowledge, the best performance or simply have spent the longest time in their role. Please note that these are still important but as the main task in management is working with people, you want is someone that has proven they can take an employee and coach them into a better one.
Dealing with people is hard. Everyone on your staff has different attitudes, abilities, pressures, and personalities. Barking orders like a general will have a limited lifespan whilst just letting things happen is just as bad.
Remember, people usually quit their jobs because of their direct supervisor. If your company has had a lot of people quitting lately, look to the leadership as one of the main reasons. A good coach will explain and elaborate what needs to happen and why it is being done. They will have a strategy through effective planning, be accountable and reward and praise positive results.
2. They are proactive with a preventative mindset
When looking for potential leaders in a company look for people that are thinking ahead and want to get a jump on tomorrow before they leave today. You need an employee that can see the big picture and aren’t waiting to be told what to do, they simply will keep working and get stuff done.
Also, can they spot problems or potential issues before they arise? Are they projecting out and looking for problems? Do issues get solved before they explode in your face? If they do, they have that crucial preventative mindset
3. They care about the company culture
As leadership to a large degree is about influencing others if you have a candidate that creates a positive atmosphere around them that could be hugely beneficial to your company.
When your employees deliver results because they want to contribute more than they are fearful for their job, that’s a culture worth noting.
4. They can make a decision
You want a self-starter. A good manager is someone that wants to run the show and can make effective decisions.
When thinking about your candidate, do they strike you as someone that can operate on their own? Or are they a “just needed to check with you” type of leader. Decision making means they can handle the opportunity and succeed.
Can they work with other departments? Sometimes a decision must be reached by discussing the challenge with other departments or managers to get all the facts, and then deciding together on the plan. These types of decisions are based on the input from many voices. This isn’t asking for permission, this is getting good information and deciding together based on the facts.
5. They can communicate effectively
Good managers must communicate with all levels of people including customers, other managers, employees and suppliers.
Great managers listen and try to comprehend what’s going on before they speak. They may ask a lot of questions to understand the situation before they decide.
Great managers aren’t shouting orders from across the floor. That’s not leading.
6. They are trustworthy
This is crucial. Trustworthy people don’t let you down and they do what they say. Ethics matter, they have integrity and good managers can put themselves in other’s shoes. They wouldn’t dream of treating others badly because they don’t want to be treated that way themselves.
Trustworthy people will tell you they don’t know everything. The learning is constant, and they know that they can always get better, and are resourceful enough to solve problems. Trust happens when things are predictable. They always come in early. That important job went off without a problem. Emotions are even-tempered.